Mercedes F1 CEO: Always trust your childhood intuition

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team, has had the “definition of a non-linear career path”. Those are the words of Ryan Roslansky – CEO of LinkedIn – who interviewed Wolff.

Wolff’s success suggests that “skills and grit are the true currency”, rather than academic qualifications.

Roslanksy asked Wolf how much his non-traditional career path impacts his attitude towards hiring for the Mercedes F1 team – Wolff admitted that it is “one of the most complex problems today”.

He shared: “I remember in my first years, I sat down with my Chief People Officer, and we went through the skill set that was needed and what we were [analyzing] as an organization and he said, ‘Well, we are looking at the top universities.’

“So, I said to him, ‘What about someone that hasn’t been great academically but set up various tiny businesses?’ He said, ‘No chance. It wouldn’t even go through the first round of applications.’

“So I said, ‘So that’s me. I would have never qualified for a job here at Mercedes. And what does it say?’”

Roslansky agreed. Decisions about hiring shouldn’t “just” be about “where someone went to school or what their previous company was” – but it is about “does someone actually have the skills needed to do the job”. “It’s not the start, but the journey, and how you navigate it, that matters”.

Wolff had started life as a self-funded racing car driver – he had raised sponsorship from friends’ parents as a teenager – before quitting to go to university to study economics.

He quickly dropped out, to take up an internship at an investment bank – talking about that experience, Wolf shared: “It was terrible, it was boring”, but it was necessary for the next step.

He then worked in sales, before starting his own consultancy and then became a tech venture capitalist. This led him back to his hobby, motor racing – he started supporting young drivers with no means and invested in a company that made Mercedes racing cars.

He caught the attention of Williams F1, and then became the CEO – before Mercedes wanted a slice of the action.

Be an all-rounder and follow your instincts

Wolff’s non-traditional career path has brought him a lot of success – interestingly, despite all the chopping and changing, Wolf doesn’t see his career as one full of risks.

“It was always calculated. If I could cope with the worst outcome, then it was a calculated risk, and I was prepared.”

When giving career advice, he noted that intuition is key, and that people shouldn’t lose the ease in which children embark on different paths.

He called for young people to be encouraged “to be all-rounders, look at various jobs,” and to try lots of different things.

“Then eventually focus on one thing that feels right. If after five years, it doesn’t feel right anymore, then do the next thing,” Wolff concluded.